Assessment is the central point of educational progress; it is the assistant to teachers during and after teaching and learning. One of the assessment genres, assessment for learning is referred to gathering information during teaching and learning, to determine students’ success in learning. The study aims to determine the understanding of assessment for learning strategies and challenges may face in Amharic language teachers.  The participants selected from all levels of general education (1-12 grades), through cluster random sampling, were 180 Amharic language teachers for a questionnaire survey. In addition, twelve (12) teachers and four (4) teachers were selected through cluster random sampling respectively for an interview and informal conversation. The data acquired through the closed-ended questionnaire was analyzed by a one-sample t-test, while the data obtained through an open-ended questionnaire; interviews and informal conversations were analyzed in qualitative verbal description. The results are presented in two ways; the data from the close-ended questionnaire shows that Amharic language teachers are practice assessment for learning strategies in the classrooms, which is statistically significant (P < 0.01). On the other hand, the data from the open-ended questionnaire shows most Amharic language teachers’ reliance is on the old form of assessment and their awareness assessment for learning strategies is limited. In addition, the challenges, based on the practice of assessment for learning strategies in faced in the language classrooms; lack of transparency, lack of knowledge and experience, school administrative problems, lack of training, and reliance on assessment preference are faced. Based on the findings, the study concludes with recommendations that can be implemented to develop assessment for learning strategies in the language classrooms; to minimize the challenges faced by Amharic language teachers in Ethiopian general education (1-12) schools.

የጥናቱ ዓላማ አዕምሯዊ የመማር ብልሃቶች የተማሪዎችን አንብቦ የመረዳት ችሎታና የማንበብ ተነሳሽነት የማሳደግ ሚና መፈተሽነው፡፡ ዓላማውን ለማሳካት በ2011 ዓ.ም በወላይታ ሶዶ ከተማ በጊዮርጊስ ትምህርት ቤት በመማር ላይ የሚገኙ የሰባተኛ ክፍልየአማርኛ ኢአፍፈት ተማሪዎች ሦስት መማሪያ ክፍሎች በአመቺ ንሞና ተመርጠዋል፡፡ ተሳታፊዎቹ በብልሃት 42፣ በብልሃትአልባ 38እና በቁጥጥር 38 በድምሩ 118 ሲሆኑ፣ በአንብቦ መረዳት ፈተናና በማንበብ ተነሳሽነት የፅሁፍ መጠይቆች አማካይነት መረጃሰጥተዋል፡፡ የተሰበሰበው መረጃ በገላጭና በድምዳሜያዊ ስታትስቲክስ (በባለሁለት ተላውጦ ልይይትና በባዕድ ናሙና ቲ-ቴስትተሰልቶ) ተተንትኗል፡፡ የጥናቱ ውጤቶችም በብልሃትና በብልሃትአልባ አቀራረቦች የተማሩት በተለመደው የማንበብ ትምህርትከተማሩት ይልቅ በአንብቦ መረዳት ችሎታቸው ጉልህ መሻሻል አሳይተዋል፡፡ ነገርግን በማንበብ ተነሳሽነት ላይ ጉልህ ሚና አላሳዩም፡፡በብልሃትና በብልሃት አልባው ቡድን መካከልም የአንብቦ መረዳት ችሎታና የማንበብ ተነሳሽነት ጉልህ ልዩነት እንደሌለ ተረጋግጧል፡፡ይህም ከሁለቱ የብልሃት አቀራረቦች አዕምሯዊ ብልሃትን በይዘትነትና በትግበራ መማርና በትግበራ ብቻ መማር ልዩነት እንደሌለውያሳያል፡፡ ስለዚህ ትግበራው በሁለቱም ቡድኖች ስለሚገኝ በይዘትነት ከመማር ይልቅ በትግበራ መማር አስተዋፅኦ እንዳለውያመለክታል፡፡

Assessment for learning practice and learning improvement are the two vital variables in this study. This article explores primary school teachers’ assessments for learning practices for student learning improvement. The participants (n = 242) were selected through a cluster random sampling techniques for a questionnaire survey from the target primary schools to meet the research objective of this study. Among the total participants 15 teachers for an in-depth interview, and five for informal conversations were randomly selected through purposive sampling. The data collected through closed-ended questionnaire were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance and post-hoc methods. To analyze the qualitative data acquired through interview and informal conversation, thematic verbal descriptions were employed. Conversely, the findings indicated that the primary school teachers had highly positive classroom environments practice, moderate positive learning intentions and success, feedback in assessment practices, and self- and peer-assessment practices toward learning assessment. Although, the findings from the quantitative data showed that the primary school teachers had high and moderate assessments for learning practice, the interviews revealed that they had low confidence in learning practice assessments owing to challenges faced during practice. These overall challenges relate to transparency, experience, training, school problems, and preference reliance. Finally, based on the study’s implications, recommendations are made for future directions of studies that will allow better comprehension of the assessment for learning practice in relation to the students’ learning improvement.